California cities â€” especially those in the Central Valley â€” topped the list of metropolitan areas with the highest automobile theft rates last year, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Bakersfield topped the national list, followed by Fresno, Modesto, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Stockton-Lodi region and Redding. Spokane, Wash., was seventh nationally […]

California grocers stand to make millions on a bill working its way through the Legislature that would charge consumers a dime for every paper bag they use – because it’s the grocers who would get to keep all 10Â cents. Under SB270, which would ban the use of lightweight plastic bags statewide, stores would be required […]

How can you tell we are in an election year?Â Look at the various pieces of legislation where the once foe is now a friend, but after Nov. 6th, will probably become a foe again. There is no clearer example of election year hypocrisy than SB 270, which seeks to ban plastic grocery bags and […]

The California Senate will spend more than $40,000 on private contractors to investigate security concerns raised by an in-house law enforcement officer who was found to have used cocaine and marijuana the night he was involved in a fatal off-duty shooting. In March, attorneyÂ Sue Ann Van DermydenÂ and threat assessment expertÂ James CawoodÂ completed their investigation of issues […]

The Supreme Court upheld federal gun laws that make it a crime when buying a weapon to lie about plans to give it to someone else. By a 5-4 vote, the justices agreed that a “straw purchaser” of a gun is guilty of a crime, even if he and the ultimate owner are both legally […]

WARREN, Mich. (AP) â€”Â General MotorsÂ says a pattern of incompetence and neglect, not a larger conspiracy or cover-up, is to blame for a long-delayed recall of defective ignitionÂ switches. GM CEOÂ Mary Barra, who released the results of an internal investigation into the company’s missteps on Thursday, said 15 employees â€” many of them senior legal and engineering […]

The deputy described beating inmates unprovoked, slapping them, shooting them with a Taser gun and aggressively searching them to pick a fight â€” something he learned “on the job.” He would huddle with other jail guards to get their stories straight and write up reports with bogus scenarios justifying the brutality. If the inmate had […]

Roseville residents will soon be paying a few more dollars on their water bill, a direct result of the stateâ€™s drought. The cityâ€™s water utility announced Monday it would be implementing a so-called â€œdrought surchargeâ€ starting June 15. The temporary fee would be equivalent to 15 percent of the monthly water use charge and would […]

man who was beaten by Los Angeles County sheriffâ€™s deputies while visiting his brother at Menâ€™s Central Jail will be paid almost $1.2 million to settle his civil rights lawsuit. Attorneys for Gabriel Carrillo, 26, announced the settlement Thursday, which was approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and finalized earlier this week. […]

Utah high school has retouched yearbook photographs of some female students whose pictures may have been too revealing for some adults. Wasatch High School in Heber City, about 50 miles from Salt Lake City, is under fire after it altered the images of some students to show less skin. The school never notified the students […]